Today made me wonder (and this is only my observations!)… are the Chinese as a culture quite rude, or are the British too polite? I think it’s a little of both, and of course I am generalising somewhat but let me explain where this point has arisen from:

It may well be that I woke up this morning in a grumpy mood but noted on my way to work a number of instances that got me thinking about this.

1. Courtesy: At the end of my complex is a gate entrance where you need to swipe a card to enter or exit if the guard is not present. This morning the guard was not around and as I reached the gate to exit I presented my card to allow me to exit, around the same time some Chinese people were waiting to enter (no card for some reason). I swiped my card and opened the door (inwards) and before I even got the chance to walk through I got almost stampeded over which got me all in a huff!
2. Shopping & queues: I went to the local shop to buy some breakfast. Now I know queuing is primarily a British thing but I was quite blatantly next to be served, but not apparently in the eyes of the several Chinese people behind me who practically pushed me out of the way in order to shove their purchases on the counter… much to my further annoyance the shop assistant responded to them before me! I feel even more at a disadvantage since I do not know how to raise any objection in Chinese (which is something I am working on, I realise I am the alien in THEIR country, but I am trying to pick up the lingo!)

3. Rules of the road: Cars in China do rule the road, and this rule must be observed in order not to be mowed down and become roadkill! You have to be nippy and decisive when crossing the road or else you stand on the roadside forever trying to cross since there are limited crossings and even then most are ignored! However this morning I am sure that a car SPED UP when I made that dash and I escaped a gruesome injury only by a whisker… and this was all still before my work day had started!
4. Opinions: I have come to the opinion that the Chinese like to give their opinion in a straightforward and forthright manner, which to be honest is quite refreshing after the amount of time the British people often tend to spend dancing around a subject without directly addressing it. However the following comment today at lunch did make me wonder if I would prefer a more subtle approach:
Chinese Person (my boss): ‘So Tanya, when you return home for your visit, do you think that your friends & family will comment on the fact that you have put on weight since you got here?’ aghhh!! For your information, I would hope you retain some British reserve about this matter !!

5. Staring: As I have discussed many times before I get stared at A LOT. I completely understand why since I seem to one of the few (if not the only) westerner in my local area and it is human nature to be curious of the unknown. This morning after my already ‘got out of the wrong side of the bed and don’t need this today’ episodes could have done without the lift full of Chinese people quite unashamedly staring me (note to readers, maybe this bugged me today especially since I had not washed my hair and was dressed down in jeans & t-shirt!)

Well, anyway rant over just wanted to get that off my chest -Think I am probably just having a bad day since these little things rarely irk me and are often amusing!
I am sure that somewhere in the UK there is a Chinese person far from home writing to their friends and family about the nuisances of the British!
I wonder what they would write about us? Any ideas let me know?

Miss you lots, looking forward to my visit home at the end of this month. Also let me know if there is any Asian delights in particular you would like me to bring back, and I would like to bring some ‘British’ treats back for my Chinese friends but am stuck for ideas (fish & chips not a feasible idea!) so any suggestions welcome??

Hopefully will have a chirpier entry for you all later this week,

Lots of love from the ‘mardy bum’ Tanya xx